How to Play Craps

How to play craps is a question that most people ask when they come across the game for the very first time. Fortunately, it isn’t very difficult to answer, because craps isn’t nearly as complicated as it looks. So, if you want to know how to play craps yourself, read on...

The game is played using two perfectly balanced dice, by throwing the dice from one of the short ends of the table to the other. Both dice have to hit the opposite wall of the table for the throw to be valid.

Each table has a boxman, two dealers, a stickman and two players. The boxman supervises the whole table and is responsible for all the chips allocated to that table. The dealers are responsible for all bets made on their half of the table. The stickman controls the dice, and is so named because he uses a flexible stick to move the dice toward the next player to throw. The player throwing the dice is known as the shooter.

When a new Shooter makes his first roll, it is called the "Come Out" roll. On the Come Out roll, the "Pass Line" bet wins if the Shooter rolls a 7 or an 11. The bet is automatically lost if the shooter rolls 2, 3 or 12. This is known as “rolling craps”. If the shooter rolls 4,5,6,7,8,9 or 10 they must roll the same number again followed by a 7 in order to win. Rolling any of these numbers on the Come Out roll is called "establishing the Point". Any number so rolled is thereafter referred to as the Point. Craps players bet that the shooter will either make his Point or fail to make his Point.

Establishing a Point is the result of the Come Out roll, unless that roll results in 2,3,7,11 or 12 in which case more rolls must be made until a point is established. A Puck is used by the dealer to indicate the point. If it is white side up, the number it is on indicates the number which is the point. Black side up indicates a new Come Out roll is about to take place.

The establishment of his point begins a series of rolls by the shooter that continues for as long as they continue to make winning rolls. When the shooter fails to make his point, the dice are given to the next player for a Come Out roll and the game progresses in the manner previously described.

Winning or losing in craps depends on a the roll of the dice. The two dice can produce many different combinations of numbers which total anything from 2 to 12. Some numbers can be made several ways (for example, 6, can me made with a 5 and 1, 4 and 2 or 3 and 3) but others can only be made one way (for example, 2 can only be made with 1 and 1). Numbers which can be rolled more than one way don’t pay as much as those that can only be rolled one way, unless you are betting that the number will be rolled in a specific way, known as the hardway. For example, a bet on 6 the hardway would only pay with a roll of 3 and 3.

The number of ways any two dice number combination can be rolled determines all winning payoffs. As a rule, the harder the combination is to roll, the more it will pay. To bet "with the shooter" you place your bets in an area marked "Pass Line" before the new shooter rolls the dice. To bet "against the shooter" your bet must be placed in an area called "Don't Pass Line" which is situated directly above the pass line. Once the shooter establishes a Point, you can "take odds" by placing an additional bet behind your pass line bet. A "Pass Bet" wins if the shooter does make his point but loses if he fails to make his point. A "Don't Pass Bet" wins if the shooter fails, but loses if he succeeds.

Although all of this sounds complicated, it really isn’t, and spending a session or two at a free play or low stakes table will enable you to learn how to play craps in no time.

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